An optical backplane is a structure having a variety of connectors facilitating the interconnection and communication of different systems and components. More specifically, the optical backplane is configured for the interconnection of systems and components having high bandwidth optical interfaces. Conventional optical backplanes, however, also can include electrical connections and suitable interface circuitry for interconnecting systems and components having electrical interfaces.
Modules or components of a conventional optical backplane include a lot of interconnections at the front of the modules to connect with each other because the connections (e.g., fibers) may need to be shuffled, which may be performed within the specific modules. However, as the optical system is getting larger and complicated, there may not be enough space on the front to allow such interconnections. In addition, such a configuration limits the scalability of the system and may involve more human errors while wiring the modules. Furthermore, the wire or fiber shuffling within the modules may be more expensive.